SNOOKER referee Tatiana Woollaston had to warn fans that they could be brutally kicked out of the Crucible if behaviour didn’t improve.
That is after someone’s phone went off during Shaun Murphy‘s tense semi-final against John Higgins.
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Snooker ref Tatiana Woollaston warned fans they could be kicked out for phones interrupting play Credit: BBC
That came at the start of Saturday’s tense semi-final afternoon session between Shaun Murphy and John Higgins at the Crucible Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Popular ref Woollaston interrupted Murphy briefly as he moved towards winning the 25th frame of a tight clash.
Barely 15 minutes after the start of Saturday’s afternoon session, world No8 Murphy potted the black ball to make it 70-0 only for the strict Woollaston to make an announcement at the table.
She said: “Please, can everyone check their phones and switch them off and put them on silent.
“You don’t want to be the one I ask to leave if it rings again.”
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That was greeted by cheers from the crowd – less than a day after many complained at the longest frame EVER in a World Championship match.
Murphy went on to complete a 132 break, getting the score back to within one frame at 13-12 to Higgins.
He followed it up with another century break, racking up 127 to level the game.
But Higgins responded to go two clear with a maximum of five to play.
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Fan disruption also threatened to derail the game on Friday as well with one person calling out “come on John” as Murphy went to break.
Pundit Dennis Taylor was unimpressed, saying: “What are they shouting about?
“Just get them out of the Crucible, we don’t need that in our game.”
This comes after Wu Yize and Mark Allen’s farcical near-two hour frame on the same night.
Yize won that but only thanks to 75 safety shots and cries of dissent from the paying viewers.
Snooker legend Steve Davis was left to blast ref Marcel Eckhart, saying: “In a nutshell that frame is an embarrassment to snooker.
“And the referees’ and the players’ association need to try to work out a way that never happens again.”
Commentators Stephen Hendry and John Parrot said that a re-rack should have been done at least 20 minutes earlier.
Eckhart had responded to a call from the crowd only to hold out as it was.
He then spoke to a tournament chief and urged the players to be more aggressive.
